Soft skills

New Year Inspiration – 5 Ways to Become a Better Version of Myself

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Happy New Year!  Wow, its already 4th week of January.  Where did the time go?  I have been meaning to write about my new year aspirations.  I am sharing them to help me be more committed.  I hope they can also help you.

Last week, I saw this great article – In the New Year, Become a Better Version of Yourself.  It inspired me to come up with these five way to  become a better version of myself.  All of them are hard for me, but they are also great aspirations for the year – how to evolve who I am as a professional and a human being. 🙂 ...  read more

Are You Listening to Those Whose Communication Style are Different from Yours?

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are you listening to those whose communication style is different

I realized I am probably not listening well to those whose communication style are opposite that of mine!  My 10 year old daughter, Isabel, made me realized this lately.   I am a pretty fast talker who will inadvertently interrupt others when I get excited about a subject. Isabel, on the other hand, is the exact opposite.  She can pause as long as 30 second or a minute before speaking her next sentence. ...  read more

Aim Low and Get Somewhere – Aiming to Write the Crappiest Article Ever Written :-)

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This video clip motivated me to write and finish this article.   It is from a Netflix movie I just watched called “Set it up.”  While the movie is so-so, this 1 min clip is funny, practical, and inspiring.  It helped me get over the writer’s block I have had for a month.  More importantly, it will help you get unstuck if you are feeling overwhelmed at the moment. ...  read more

Podcast – How to Develop Your Leadership Skills Today

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How to develop leadership skills

Today, we went to our kids’ elementary school’s “Back to School” night.  As I was leaving, Isabel’s English teacher stopped me to gush about Isabel.  Apparently, she took upon herself last month to

  • Organize their classroom’s Chinese and English book library
  • Got a few of her girlfriends to help her
  • Together came up with rules for how the students can checkout books and where returns should be placed when done.
  • Held an opening ceremony in class to introduce the new library and process.

Everyone loved it and it’s working well since.  I was more than impressed.  I didn’t share this story to brag about my own child.  The reason I shared this story is to help you think about how to develop leadership skills.  It’s never too late to start.  What it takes is ...  read more

Podcast – What are the Leadership Skills Needed for Individual Contributors and Team Leaders

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what are leadership skills

Last time, we discussed Leadership Skills – Why It is Critical to Your Success. This week, we continue the discussion with what are leadership skills and how are they different when you are a individual contributor vs a team leader.

Again, I am joined here by our Executive Author – Jaime Lapena who shares his thoughts along with mine to help you with leadership skills. ...  read more

Podcast with Transcription – Leadership Skills – Why It is Critical to Your Success

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When Isabel, my older daughter, finished 3rd grade, she was recognized by her teacher for her leadership potential.  Mr. Lee, her head teacher, advised us to nurture her leadership skills – allow her to make her own decisions, encourage her to volunteer and lead activities, let her explore new ideas.  I remember being both impressed by his comments and proud of Isabel. ...  read more

How to Work with Incompetent People and Not be Affected

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how to work with incompetent people

In my first job out of college, I worked in consulting and used to travel a lot and work late.  One night, three colleagues and I finished work around 9pm and shared a cab back to our hotel.  After being in the cab for 20 min, we knew clearly the cab driver was taking us for a ride for a better fare.  It was another 15 minutes before we got to the hotel.  As soon as we arrived, 3 of us, including me complained to the hotel lobby attendant that our driver was “shady”.  We paid him his fare, $5 more than usual, but got into a heated argument with the driver.  I was upset for at least another 30 min after that. ...  read more